DAC Beachcroft (DACB) has announced the appointment of head of insurance Helen Faulkner as its next managing partner as it posts a 6.4% increase in turnover for the past financial year.
Faulkner will take over from David Pollitt, who is stepping aside after serving two five-year terms as managing partner.
The firm has posted revenue of £348.1m for the year ended 30 April – £21m more than in the previous 12-month period. Gross profit before tax was up by 7.1% to £76m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) rose at a similar rate to hit £750,000.
Since Pollitt took over as managing partner, DACB’s revenue has grown by 75%. It has also embarked on a sustained period of international expansion, including most recently the launch of a US practice in December.
Faulkner, who will succeed Pollitt in November, said the firm would continue to invest to futureproof its business, including by introducing further AI tools and using technology strategically.
“As we have grown over the last few years, so have our ambitions,” she said. “This is a hugely exciting time for DACB, and I am looking forward to helping to write the next chapter of its growth story.”
Pollitt, meanwhile, credited his successor with playing a “pivotal role” in developing the firm’s work in insurance and assisting with international expansion.
“Establishing balance in our business has been the key to driving growth in recent years,” he said. “We have focused on strengthening our existing core sectors of insurance, health and real estate, while also expanding our full-service offering through our business advisory group and building out adjacencies such as financial services, technology and shipping, trade and commodities.”
Pollitt also stressed the importance of changing the firm’s culture for the better, saying it had helped drive the firm’s growth.
“We remain deeply committed to being an inclusive, supportive and collaborative business where everyone can be their full selves and do their best work,” he said.
The firm’s Gender Pay Gap report, released in February, showed that DAC had exceeded its target of 40% women in senior leadership roles ahead of schedule, with women now representing 44% of the firm’s senior leadership team.
DACB’s strategy of international expansion sees it follow a well-trodden path for UK insurance firms.
Its US launch was achieved through the hiring of a 30-strong team of lawyers from two US firms – Vogrin & Fremit and Robinson+Cole. Last year, it also opened in Hong Kong, a move contrary to the trend of international law firms closing there, and in Peru. This year, it has secured strategic alliances in Australia and Ecuador, with Gilchrist Connell and Moncayo Ribadeneira & Varela, respectively.
Among key London lateral hires was the arrival of former Clyde & Co senior partner and chair Simon Konsta, who joined the firm in 2023. His move followed a 12-year tenure at Clyde & Co, which began with its 2011 merger with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, where Konsta had also been senior partner.
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